Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2023 / Notices 78047 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–24–0728; Docket No. CDC–2023– 

0091] 

Proposed Data Collection Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice with comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of 

its continuing effort to reduce public 

burden and maximize the utility of 

government information, invites the 

general public and other federal 

agencies the opportunity to comment on 

a proposed and/or continuing 

information collection, as required by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

This notice invites comment on a 

proposed information collection project 

titled National Notifiable Diseases 

Surveillance System. This data 

collection provides the official source of 

statistics in the United States for 

nationally notifiable disease conditions. 

DATES: CDC must receive written 

comments on or before January 16, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CDC–2023– 

0091 by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Jeffrey M. Zirger, Information 

Collection Review Office, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 

Clifton Road NE, MS H21–8, Atlanta, 

Georgia 30329. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

Docket Number. CDC will post, without 

change, all relevant comments to 

www.regulations.gov. 

Please note: Submit all comments 

through the Federal eRulemaking portal 

(www.regulations.gov) or by U.S. mail to 

the address listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request more information on the 

proposed project or to obtain a copy of 

the information collection plan and 

instruments, contact Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Information Collection Review Office, 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS 

H21–8, Atlanta, Georgia 30329; 

Telephone: 404–639–7570; Email: omb@

cdc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 

(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), federal agencies 

must obtain approval from the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for each 

collection of information they conduct 

or sponsor. In addition, the PRA also 

requires federal agencies to provide a 

60-day notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each new 

proposed collection, each proposed 

extension of existing collection of 

information, and each reinstatement of 

previously approved information 

collection before submitting the 

collection to the OMB for approval. To 

comply with this requirement, we are 

publishing this notice of a proposed 

data collection as described below. 

The OMB is particularly interested in 

comments that will help: 

1. Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

2. Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

3. Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; 

4. Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submissions 

of responses; and 

5. Assess information collection costs. 

Proposed Project 

National Notifiable Diseases 

Surveillance System (OMB Control No. 

0920–0728, Exp. 3/31/2026)— 

Revision—Office of Public Health Data, 

Surveillance, and Technology 

(OPHDST), Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

The Public Health Services Act (42 

U.S.C. 241) authorizes CDC to 

disseminate nationally notifiable 

condition information. The National 

Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System 

(NNDSS) is based on data collected at 

the state, territorial and local levels 

because of legislation and regulations in 

those jurisdictions that require health 

care providers, medical laboratories, 

and other entities to submit healthrelated data on reportable conditions to 

public health departments. These 

reportable conditions, which include 

infectious and non-infectious diseases, 

vary by jurisdiction depending upon 

each jurisdiction’s health priorities and 

needs. Each year, the Council of State 

and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), 

supported by CDC, determines which 

reportable conditions should be 

designated nationally notifiable or 

under standardized surveillance. 

CDC requests a three-year approval for 

a Revision for the NNDSS (OMB Control 

No. 0920–0728, Expiration Date 03/31/ 

2026). This Revision includes requests 

for approval to: (1) receive case 

notification data for Cronobacter and 

Ehrlichiosis, new notifiable conditions; 

(2) receive case notification data for 

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection 

and Toxoplasmosis, new conditions 

under standardized surveillance; and (3) 

receive new disease-specific data 

elements for Cronobacter, Hansen’s 

Disease (Leprosy,) and Leptospirosis. 

The NNDSS currently facilitates the 

submission and aggregation of case 

notification data voluntarily submitted 

to CDC from 60 jurisdictions: public 

health departments in every U.S. state; 

New York City; Washington DC; five 

U.S. territories (American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands); and three freely 

associated states (Federated States of 

Micronesia, the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands, and the Republic of 

Palau). This information is shared 

across jurisdictional boundaries and 

both surveillance and prevention and 

control activities are coordinated at 

regional and national levels. 

Approximately 90% of case 

notifications are encrypted and 

submitted to NNDSS electronically from 

already existing databases by automated 

electronic messages. When automated 

transmission is not possible, case 

notifications are faxed, emailed, 

uploaded to a secure network or entered 

into a secure website. All case 

notifications that are faxed or emailed 

are done so in the form of an aggregate 

weekly or annual report, not individual 

cases. These different mechanisms used 

to send case notifications to CDC vary 

by the jurisdiction and the disease or 

condition. Jurisdictions remove most 

personally identifiable information (PII) 

before data are submitted to CDC, but 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
78048 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 14, 2023 / Notices 

some data elements (e.g., date of birth, 

date of diagnosis, county of residence) 

could potentially be combined with 

other information to identify 

individuals. Private information is not 

disclosed unless otherwise compelled 

by law, and all data are treated in a 

secure manner consistent with the 

technical, administrative, and 

operational controls required by the 

Federal Information Security 

Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) and 

the 2010 National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST) Recommended 

Security Controls for Federal 

Information Systems and Organizations. 

Weekly tables of nationally notifiable 

diseases are available through CDC 

WONDER and www.data.cdc.gov. 

Annual summaries of finalized 

nationally notifiable disease data are 

published on CDC WONDER and 

www.data.cdc.gov and disease-specific 

data are published by individual CDC 

programs. 

The burden estimates include the 

number of hours that the public health 

department uses to process and send 

case notification data from their 

jurisdiction to CDC. Specifically, the 

burden estimates include separate 

burden hours incurred for automated 

and non-automated transmissions, 

separate weekly burden hours incurred 

for modernizing surveillance systems as 

part of CDC’s Data Modernization 

Initiative (DMI) implementation, 

separate burden hours incurred for 

annual data reconciliation and 

submission, and separate one-time 

burden hours incurred for the addition 

of new diseases and data elements. The 

burden estimates for the one-time 

burden for reporting jurisdictions are for 

the addition of case notification data for 

Cronobacter and Ehrlichiosis, new 

notifiable conditions; the addition of 

case notification data for Congenital 

cytomegalovirus infection and 

Toxoplasmosis, new conditions under 

standardized surveillance; and the 

addition of new disease-specific data 

elements for Cronobacter, Hansen’s 

Disease (Leprosy) and Leptospirosis. 

Because there were fewer diseasespecific data elements added in this 

Revision, the total burden hours 

decreased from 18,594 to 18,414. CDC 

requests OMB approval for an estimated 

18,414 annual burden hours from the 

257 respondents. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Type of respondent Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

States ............................. Weekly (Automated) ............................................ 50 52 20/60 867 

States ............................. Weekly (Non-automated) ..................................... 10 52 2 1,040 

States ............................. Weekly (DMI Implementation) ............................. 50 52 4 10,400 

States ............................. Annual .................................................................. 50 1 75 3,750 

States ............................. One-time Addition of Diseases and Data Elements.50 1 3 150 

Territories ....................... Weekly (Automated) ............................................ 5 52 20/60 87 

Territories ....................... Weekly, Quarterly (Non-automated) .................... 5 56 20/60 93 

Territories ....................... Weekly (DMI Implementation) ............................. 5 52 4 1,040 

Territories ....................... Annual .................................................................. 5 1 5 25 

Territories ....................... One-time Addition of Diseases and Data Elements.5 1 3 15 

Freely Associated States Weekly (Automated) ............................................ 3 52 20/60 52 

Freely Associated States Weekly, Quarterly (Non-automated) .................... 3 56 20/60 56 

Freely Associated States Annual .................................................................. 3 1 5 15 

Freely Associated States One-time Addition of Diseases and Data Elements.3 1 3 9 

Cities .............................. Weekly (Automated) ............................................ 2 52 20/60 35 

Cities .............................. Weekly (Non-automated) ..................................... 2 52 2 208 

Cities .............................. Weekly (DMI Implementation) ............................. 2 52 4 416 

Cities .............................. Annual .................................................................. 2 1 75 150 

Cities .............................. One-time Addition of Diseases and Data Elements.2 1 3 6 

Total ........................ .............................................................................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 18,414 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Public Health Ethics and 

Regulations, Office of Science, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25088 Filed 11–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

Services 

[Document Identifier: CMS–10552] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services, Health and Human 

Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing 

an opportunity for the public to 

comment on CMS’ intention to collect 

information from the public. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the 

PRA), Federal agencies are required to 

publish notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information (including each proposed 

extension or reinstatement of an existing 

collection of information) and to allow 

60 days for public comment on the 

proposed action. Interested persons are 

invited to send comments regarding our 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES